Don’t Say No To Yourself Before They Do

“Should I ask?” I wondered.

One thing I know, for sure, is that my father loves ice-cream. He had been through a horrendous time of surgery and recovery so when his meal was delivered I wanted to get him some ice-cream to cheer him up.

The lady who delivered the meals was in a hurry and had loads of meals to deliver.

“I can’t really ask her” I decided.

Then I remembered something I’d learnt in May this year.

So I asked.

“I’ll have to go all the way downstairs and I still have all these meals to deliver”, she grumbled.

“Oh well, I tried” I thought and promptly dismissed the possibility.

Twenty minutes later she walked in with the ice-cream for my Dad. Yay!

That was all thanks to Ed Tate ( http://www.edtate.com/) – he was a speaker at a conference I attended, and one of the things he spoke about was asking for things you want. So often we feel uncomfortable to ask for what we want, for various reasons – so we don’t ask.

Ed says – “Don’t say no to yourself before they do.”

I’ve been practicing this ever since.

It doesn’t always work – on Friday night we went to dinner with our three kids to a local restaurant. There was a huge TV in the corner.

Now I don’t know about you, but if there is a TV on in front of me, my eyes keep drifting to it, even if I don’t want to watch. It’s so distracting and frustrating.

My kids, as kids will do, reminded me about Ed Tate. So I asked.

I got a NO. They had a good reason to keep the TV on. The lights in the ceiling weren’t working – so the TV was providing light in the restaurant.

I didn’t win with that one. It also didn’t matter. What mattered was that I asked.

Yesterday we were at breakfast with friends, and my friend wanted something that wasn’t on the menu.

Naturally I told her about Ed Tate – so she asked.

She had to explain exactly what she wanted – croissant with cream cheese, rocket and fried baby tomatoes – it was a meal created from different options on the menu. She got it – exactly as requested!

Don’t say no to yourself before they do.

My challenge to you: Every time you want something during the next two weeks – ask for it. See what happens.

Let me know how it goes….

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://www.jacquesdevilliers.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Screen-Shot-2015-08-15-at-10.50.31-AM.png[/author_image] [author_info]Kirsten Long is Professional Life and Business Coach

Through her coaching practice, Kirsten helps people move forward in their lives. She has well over 1 300 hours of coaching experience for both private and business clients. She is a member of COMENSA.[/author_info] [/author]